San Francisco Marathon

The deck was stacked against me!
My only goal for this marathon was to run a sub5. I needed to finish no later than that or I would have missed my plane to St. Louis. My lower back had been bothering me for awhile so I ran less and less since the Seattle Marathon to give the back a rest. And to make things interesting, I caught the flu 2 weeks before the race. Also I was unable to take that week off from work... definitely no rest for the weary. In the aftermath of the flu, I was sporting a nice lingering cough. I went for a shakeout run on Friday. It was no good. My legs felt retarded and filled with lead. Breathing was still labored. Of course, I had the usual people question my decision to go ahead and run the race. The trip was already paid for and I've ran in worse conditions. So why not?

I flew out of John Wayne on Saturday morning. First time flying out of there and first time flying with Virgin America. The flight was delayed due to fog in SF. After kicking around the terminal for about an hour, we were finally allowed to board the plane. The cabin was illuminated like a nightclub with purple lights. Everything was very modern looking. There was a screen in front of every seat where you can listen to music, watch TV, or text other passengers. I played with it for a little bit but ended up reading my book. Once we landed, I rode the BART to my hotel. Thank you for not going on strike!

The Expo
I tried to check into the hotel early, but my room wasn't ready. While I was figuring out where to meet up with my friends, the guy at the front desk tells me that the room is ready. After dropping my stuff off in my room, I hoofed it over to the Hyatt to wait for the bus. It was a short ride to the expo. I could've walked over, but I figured I'll do plenty of that on Sunday. The expo was a zoo. Very crowded. I picked up my race packet and t-shirt and met up with Ryan. I said hello to Dane Rauschenberg since he's at almost every marathon that I run. We left right away since we wanted to try and tackle the Pho Challenge before the FE at Fuzio.

The Pho Challenge
Here's the link to their website: Pho Garden. The Pho Challenge is: finish 2 lbs of noodle and 2 lbs of meat within an hour. Long story short, when we got there, we were unable to take the challenge because they have people already lined up for it. You have to reserve a spot since they only have 4 of those huge bowls available. Since we were already there after a long bus ride, we took the unofficial mini challenge by eating an extra large bowl of pho. I've read from reviews that the challenge is about 3-4 times the size of the extra large bowl. That's a lot of pho!

The FE at Fuzio
After the disappointment, we vowed to come back next year and headed over to the FE at Fuzio. It was good to see the bay area folks and some new people from the forum! Since I already ate pho, I decided to have a few drinks instead. I stuck to the plan and cut myself off at 3 drinks: Anchor Steam, Guinness, and an Irish coffee for the cough.

Too much pre-race fun!
Robert, Ryan, Cat, and I headed back to our hotel and the BART, but somehow we ended up at Murphy's Pub. I ended up having a Black Butte Porter, Murphy's Stout, and Racer 5 IPA. That's 3 more beers that I didn't intend to have the night before a marathon! I must admit, they were good and hit the spot! I made sure I drank my water before going to sleep.

Race day
I slept pretty well. Woke up, drank my orange juice and ate my two chocolate Powerbars. ***TMI alert!*** Everything was going just as planned, but it looks like the "running" started a bit early. It must have been the alcohol, but I was definitely not feeling good. I got ready anyways and we were off. Ryan had to catch an earlier wave so he gave me his drop-off bag and jogged to the start. I jogged a little bit slower and had to duck into the Hyatt to use their bathroom. Good thing I stopped at the Hyatt, because that portapotty line at the starting area was long! I dropped off Ryan's bag and headed for the wave 4 corral. I sat down at the curb feeling exhausted and I hadn't even ran a mile yet!

First half
After waiting a few minutes, they released our corral. I made sure I didn't run out too fast. I was kind of worried that I couldn't get a single mile under 9 minutes. I knew I was in for a hard day since I was having to labor hard to maintain a slow pace. I was feeling a bit nauseous for about the first 5 miles. I had the taste of pho and beer in my mouth. But after 5 miles and getting the Gatorade into my system, everything started to feel better just in time for the Golden Gate crossing. While I was going out on the bridge, I got to see my friends Billy, Danica, and Jerry. On my return trip across the bridge, I came up to NYCParkrunner (Joe). Even though I passed him, I would see him later. When I came up to the half and full marathon split, I was very tempted to turn left and head for the 1st half finish line.

1: 9:26
2: 9:03
3: 9:28
4: 9:23
5: 9:05
6-11: 59:02
12: 11:02
13: 11:00
13.1: 2:08:36

Second half
I really do not like marathons that have to share the course with half marathoners. But it was really cool to see the elite runners for the 2nd half. I was spotted by Gundy around mile 17. He was pacing a friend. From viewing the elevation chart before the race, I thought the uphills would be over after reaching mile 18. But as the course continued to roll, I got really demoralized and started to stroll through the park. This was not a good idea, as I was passed by everyone. "Stampede in the gorge! Simba's down there!" I felt as if I was going to be trampled as the course was really narrow. As I left the park, I continued to take two more recovery miles. I saw Billy somewhere around here taking pictures of course. Later I spotted Joe again, so I ran up to talk to him. I had to let him go since I could not keep up. I stuck to my jog/walk method and just wanted to push hard enough to come in under 5hrs. As I was coming up to mile 26, I saw Danica on the side cheering. I was so dead by then. I was able to muster up a fast trot. Bart Yasso gave me a high five and told the crowd about my orange Worldvision shirt, the charity that Ryan Hall supports.

14: 10:21
15: 11:32
16: 13:06
17: 11:48
18: 11:37
19: 15:42
20-21: 27:19
22: 12:49
23: 12:49
24: 12:30
25: 13:34
26: 13:15
26.2: 1:47
Finish: 4:55:46

Post race thoughts
I need to come back and have a do over on this race. I was very surprised that I was able to meet my goal and get on the plane to St. Louis in time for work. Even though I probably drank a tad too much before a race, I think it is good to let loose and have fun once in awhile. Oh and I have to go back to take on the Pho Challenge!